31 Days of Astral
by LunagaleMaster
Summary: Dannymay has long past, but that doesn't stop the prompts! Time to use all 31 prompts in my Master of Space AU, featuring Danny, or using his chosen name, Astral. Along with his counterpart, Clockwork, the Master of Time, the two regulate the multiverse... while they try to survive the other. Both fun shenanigans and drama to ensue in these 31 moments in their lives.
1. Day 1: Hope

AN: Okay! So this is my Master of Space AU, or to be more specific, Master of Reality. Long story short, in this AU, the multiverse is regulated by the Masters of Time and Space. Time, being Clockwork, and Space, being Astral, a Danny who was tricked into becoming the Master of Space by the Observants, the previous regulators. After years of denial, disappointment, rage, and self-introspection, he accepts his role as the Master of Space and all its difficulties.

Of course, there are more specifics, but this the basics of the AU. I'm hoping to take all 31 days and make them about this AU, so if you're interested, stick around! I hope you enjoy!

The first day is a little different from the rest. It mostly focuses on Astral's backstory rather than Astral himself. Basically, his original universe is like an original TUE universe timeline, but instead of taking out his ghost half, Danny finds out that hey! He's immortal!...but Vlad is slowly aging. So, Danny is trying to find a way to stop being immortal or if he can, make Vlad immortal...it does not end well.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!

Danny's age: 44 (Physically 14)

Timeline/Location: Astral's original universe (Post Nasty Burger explosion by 30 years)

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. All rights go to Nickelodeon. Please support the official release.

* * *

 _Day 1: Hope_

Ears ringing, heartbeat pounding slowly in his ear drums, Danny flipped another page in the admittedly dense book. He pressed his lips together, as the words blurred on the pages, and try as he might, he couldn't get them to focus again.

He sighed, closed the book for a moment, and stared at the wall in front of him.

It was moments like these that made his efforts feel fruitless. Book after book, countless hours of research both in and out of the ghost zone. There was never a clear cure for immortality anywhere, and while, there were many tales of explorers wandering for the fountain of youth, they were just that, stories. Even in the ghost zone, the fountain of youth was simply a myth created by those too afraid to die.

Though in the GZ, ghosts tended to hiss at its very mention. Apparently, its equivalent was something akin to acid and while Danny didn't know how it affected humans, he didn't particularly want to find out either.

The fountain of youth was just one of the many dead ends he faced.

Sighing to himself, felt his eyes begin to droop drastically. He blinked heavily, trying and failing to get the sleep out of them, even as his body snuggled deeper into the chair.

Danny suddenly made himself sit up, despite his protesting body. With a few quick movements, he took a long gulp of his long cold coffee, whipped his mouth on his arm, and cracked open the long winded book once more.

As he readjusted himself to get in a less comfortable position, he stared determinedly at the pages before him.

Vlad told him to stop looking a long time ago. He, despite being a stubborn bastard, didn't fight the inevitability of his own death.

Danny couldn't accept that. No matter how many times Vlad sighed and shook his head, no matter how many pages told him that keeping humans, hybrids, or any other mortal creature alive beyond their time was impossible, Danny could never accept that there wasn't a way.

There had to be. Somewhere in these pages, there was an answer, and Danny would eventually find it, even if it would take years searching in every waking and non-waking hour.

And so he continued searching.

* * *

AN: (Is too lazy to put a word count today. About 350 words). Thanks for reading! Tell me what you like. Tell me what you don't like. Tell me what I can improve upon. I know it's been awhile for my other stories but I've either A) been writing stuff for Astral that I haven't posted yet, B) writing stuff for something else that I haven't posted or C) burned out from school. I'll be posting all my Dannymay stuff here though! I won't be on time all the time, especially since some days have been really long, but I'll try my best.

Anyway, see you next time!

~LunagaleMaster


	2. Day 2: Ice

Oh look a long one to make up for how disproportionate the AN and word count of the last one was yaaaay...

(Cough) Anyway, these are what the prompts will be more similar to in terms of characterization. Enjoy!

Timeline: Non-specific  
AUs: Thank you to my friends Skye and Aspen for letting me use their Ice Sprite and Ice Prince Dannys! You guys rock!

Disclaimer: I do no own Danny Phantom. All rights go to Nickelodeon. Please support the official release.

* * *

 _Day 2: Ice_

There was a huge difference between Cores and cores.

In short, Cores referred to the Dannys. The infinite, unfortunately incredibly important Dannys. Each universe created a Core once in its way too long lifespan (with a minor glitch here and there creating either an odd knock off or amusingly, an actor playing Danny). It was a ridiculous cycle. A Core was born, they lived, and if everything went well, they died after a long eventful life.

Astral noted that things only went well half the time.

The other half either were Cores with boring lives, those who died early, or those who never died at all.

Cores were important for sustaining a universe. No matter what they did, as long as they did something, their deaths would, at the very least, extend the longevity of the universe by a great number of Earth years Astral never bothered figuring out.

(Clockwork probably told him a few times, but considering it sometimes felt like he blinked and missed an entire millennia, the actual number of years were lost to him).

Whatever the actual number of years, it didn't particularly matter. A Danny lived, they died, and their energy helped to make a universe live longer. Since Clockwork's and Astral's goal was to make universes live as long as possible, it was usually in their best interest to make sure that a Core was born.

Not that they could do much to keep the Core alive once he was born, but that was another story for another day, and by another day, Astral meant never.

On the other hand, cores were (with a few exceptions here and there), the lifeline of a ghost. Like Cores helped power universes, ghost cores were the literal center of being for every ghost, holding their power, personality, and essentially their very existence.

Unless you were a halfa, of course, then it had half of your existence…sometimes. Other times cores were in the halfas literal heart, and that really made a mess in some of the universes where a ghost managed to dispose of a Core by destroying their core.

The weirdest thing about cores, in Astral's opinion, were their elemental effects. For some reason, some cores had elements. Not all of them but some of them. Astral could never figure out why (well, there was always an in-universe reason, but they varied and were way too complicated for his tastes). Of all the abilities ghosts could have, those related to their elemental cores always felt different than other powers. They didn't relate to a ghost's past, nor did it particularly relate to ghosts in general. Elemental cores were just another power….for no reason except to have an additional power.

Don't even get him started on those with "musical" and "adaptive" cores. He tried to wrap his mind around these variations, and he just came to the conclusion that they sounded cool and so the multiverse made it happen.

The Rule of Cool was a legitimate law, one that Astral himself indulged in quite often.

Generally, Cores tended to have ice cores….for some reason. Again, sometimes the sudden cryokinesis explained and other times, they just generally appear whenever the timeline demanded it. Astral tried to rational it all out, but by the time he found out that at least a fourth of the Common universes didn't have cores, let alone ice cores, Astral realized that was a stupid thing to try to understand.

This, by itself, wouldn't be too much of a big deal. Like ghost powers themselves, not every single universe had to have the same abilities. Fuck, the multiverse threw logic out the window as much as Astral did, which made sense when he thought about it. No, the reason why he was hung up on the stupid ice thing had nothing to do with lack of consistency or the consistent lack of consistency.

It was because for some damn reason, universes just loved to center ice as a Core's main theme, even in Common universes.

If the ice theme was similar to the stars, Astral might have understood. Nearly every universe, with the exceptions of a handful had Core that either loved space or centered space around their universe. Space was loved by all of them in one form or another, and while the stars were simply a backdrop to him now, Astral distinctly remembered his pre-Master days and even his early days just staring out into the great infinity in wonder.

Ice on the other hand? Nothing. There was no reason. It was a theme and nothing less. The Cores didn't have any attachment to ice, no memories, fuck, they usually hated the winter holiday. (Was this entire thing some great irony in the multiverse?) The only connection to ice they had was to their inconsistent occurrences in their ice core.

Clockwork said it was because the original universe had a Danny with an ice core. Astral preferred to think that the Rule of Cool had evolved into the Rule of Cold.

Whatever the case, it didn't matter. Ice was a Core's theme, and as a result, there were several universes dedicated to centralizing it to the point of extremity.

OoOoOoOoO

 _Phantom, king of ghosts, leaned leisurely on the armrest of his throne, face impassive, as he eyed the babbling ghost before him. Bright blue eyes, bored at this endless routine strayed to the walls of his palace. The walls, changed to match the reign of the new king, packed to the brim with solid snow to the point only the most powerful of fire cores could even hope to melt it. Icicles clung to the ceiling dangerous, the pointed ends like spikes ready to close down on the rest of the room. The floor was slick and shining. If he wanted, Phantom could see his reflection.  
_

 _"M-m-m-my K-king?" A voice whispered._

 _Phantom's eyes snapped to the ghost, who jumped away in fright. The poor thing was shivering, from fear or the temperature, the king could not say._

 _Phantom smiled softly, "Please continue. I was just distracted. Not harm done."_

 _The ghost hesitated a moment, before nodding and continuing on._

 _The smile dropped from the king's face, and it was all he could do not to let out another sigh. He wrapped his cape closer to his body, the snowflake design glittering nicely with the rest of the room. If he could, Phantom would be anywhere else, trying to proactively find a way to improve his kingdom._

 _But no, he was here, listening to some councilman explain boring economic efforts that he'd just hand off to someone who knew what they were doing. It was a boring thing, but a necessary one. He just wished that it wasn't._

 _Phantom huffed out a breath and watched it float through the air. Crystallizing, making patterns, before breaking away._

 _Sometimes being the Ghost King had a powerless quality to it._

OoOoOoOoO

Astral understood on some level.

On others he didn't.

It was as much of a symbol as it was a mark of power.

However, for some, it was something new, but just a part of their lives just the same.

OoOoOoOoO

 _Danny frowned as the little wings fluttered behind him._

 _They felt…odd on his body, but at the same time, perfectly normal. Like an extra limb that had been asleep for who knew long, it at first was awkward almost painful, but now?_

 _He turned his head to look at them, their fluttering stopping at the moment. Snowflakes trailed up and down the dragonfly esque design of the appendages. The base of the wings were a light blue, almost white, and probably would be if it weren't for the lighting. Even when they weren't moving they seemed to be shimmering, twitching, ready to take off for a long flight._

 _Or maybe it was just him._

 _He shook his head and hopped off his bed. He headed towards his mirror to get a better look at himself again. The combination of morbid fascination mixed with a strange inner peace had him skitting his now, much brighter eyes toward any reflective surface he could find. Even if he jumped at the alien in the mirror (well, sprite), he couldn't help but think that he looked…right for once._

 _Fueled by a desire to see his reflection, he felt himself floating off the floor in little hops, wings buzzing excitedly behind him. He couldn't exactly understand flying just yet, but some deep instincts had him using his wings with whatever limited uses he could find._

 _He must have miscalculated his jumps because he found himself stumbling nearly on top of his vanity. Grumbling to himself, he gripped the edge and lowered his feet back on the ground._

 _Then he caught his reflection._

 _He looked like a Smurf. At least, that was always his first thought. Although, his skin wasn't that deep of a blue, the shade of blue always closer to a light sky rather than deep blue of the little creatures, the deeper blue of his eyes and the dark blue spots of his freckles made it difficult not to make the comparison._

 _As he absently poked at his freckles, his eyes trailed over the rest of his face. More pointed features of his jaw with pointed ears to match. Yet his hair poofed more than usual. Maybe it was to give the effect of powdered snow, but after his transformation, his black hair turned snowy white and seemed to shine softly off his head._

 _Danny didn't even realize he was leaning forward until he pressed his hands on the glass. Startled, he looked behind him only to find his wings fluttering up a storm and his body floating gently off the ground. Slightly panicking, he leaned forward towards the glass, and he found his breath creating trails of frost, the ice crawling intricate patterns on the mirror in a way he'd only seen in movies._

 _Despite his predicament, Danny couldn't help but smile._

OoOoOoOoO

For others, ice was their very of life. Their identity was tied to the snow and freezing cold just as important to them, as the very air they breathed. It was their story, their beginning, their end. Astral couldn't disconnect them if he tried.

Yet despite it all, there was a certain innocence when it came to ice, snow more specifically. It should have been mundane, yet as the Cores explored the vast snowy plains, their eyes glittered as they eyed the land

There was an innocence and beauty in watching these Cores love the world around them that Astral appreciated even if he didn't particularly understand.

OoOoOoOoO

 _Phantom snuggled under the snow, keeping his breaths low. It was dark and more than a little cold, but that was alright. He knew what he was doing. Paja taught him how to keep warm when he was lost in the snow._

 _He wasn't lost now. He didn't even need to fly very far to go to the village, let alone see it. Yet, quietly, as he could, Phantom camouflaged himself under the light cover of snow. He was sort of cold, and he was pretty sure he had snow in some weird places, but unlike the time he jumped into a giant piles of it only to have his Paja needing to take icicles out of his frozen hair, this time it was different._

 _He waited, anticipation building, his core buzzing with excitement. He tried his best not to shift too much. To keep quiet. Hidden. Not visible even by the greatest of-_

 _"Found you, Little One!" Suddenly, Phantom found himself being lifted in air by two strong, familiar paws. He screamed in surprise, before the sound turned into a wave of laughter and giggles, as he hugged the Far Frozen who surprised him.  
_

 _"Paja! You found me!" Phantom exclaimed. He floated up to rest on Frostbite's shoulders, legs dangling between his head, as his hands held on tightly to his horns. "How did you know I was there?"_

 _"I am a master tracker!" Frostbite said with a chuckle. He started making his way back to the village._

 _"But how?"_

 _Frostbite sounded amused, as he replied, "It's not too difficult to find a wiggling pile of snow."_

 _"Ohhh," Phantom muttered, pouting a bit, "I thought that I was still enough."_

 _A giant paw came up and ruffled his hair, causing Phantom to giggle under his breath. The Ice Prince could hear the pride in his Paja's voice when he continued, "It was a nice start. If you had been farther out, I might not have had that easy a time finding you. But alas, your wiggling and the circumstances made it quite a bit easier on me than you. You'll learn," he said, after Phantom gave a little sigh, "But you also need practice, but for now, time to get you warmed up."_

 _"Wait!" Phantom called out, floating quickly off Frostbite._

 _He arched an eyebrow, "Oh, what is it, Young One?"_

 _"I just…" He turned away from the village and looked back to the endless snow, "…Can we stay longer? Just the two of us?"_

 _There was a small silence from his Paja, and it made Phantom's heart hurt. Out here in the snow with no one else around, he was free. No duty, no other Far Frozen, just the Ice Prince and his kingdom, sharing the land with the creature he cared more than anyone else in the Zone._

 _He looked back at his Paja, eyes wide and pleading, but to Phantom's despair, he had already closed his eyes, shaking his head no. "I'm sorry. But we must make our way back home. Now come along. I don't want you to freeze yourself."_

 _'You're my home,' Phantom thought. And so was Maja and the snowy beyond, but he couldn't say this, he knew. He didn't want his Paja to feel guilty for anything. His home was here, and he was happy with his life!_

 _However, as he longed for the vast expanse of the unknown, he couldn't help but think he could be happier too._

OoOoOoOoO

It was ridiculous. There was no one connection that ice had to the Cores. Yes, there was overlapping ones (how couldn't there be), but over the many Cores and many universes, they attached themselves to their ice abilities in ways that baffled him. Some for beauty, some for practicality, some simply using them because they were there, and why not? It's another power, isn't it?

Astral knew he shouldn't be harped on the idea of an ice theme or narratives being carried just by this theme of ice, but he has seen the same story so many times and yet the stories of ice could either be completely boring or jaw droppingly emotional.

It didn't make sense.

But nothing made any sense really, and the multiverse enjoyed beating his sense of reality into little tiny pieces anyway, so why not just go with the flow and enjoy?

Astral supposed the ice thing was just one little problem out of many that represented his struggles as a whole.

If the Cores were enjoying their ice abilities, who was he to judge them?

OoOoOoOoO

 _It was midnight in the middle of December in what could have been the coldest nights of the year. Danny had zero sleep in the last two days, he failed his world geography test, and he was only one parental late night check-in away from getting grounded for all eternity._

 _Even so, he found himself floating down towards the lake at the edge of town, the decently sized body of water frozen over for the winter. Despite himself, Danny couldn't help but smile, clutching the bag in his hand even tighter in his excitement._

 _Flying was amazing stress reliever, sure, but his favorite pastime was getting riskier by the day. With Valerie and his parents both after his hide, one moment he could be enjoying the rush of air as he rushed toward the ground and the next, he could be plummeting for entirely different reasons._

 _So, no, with the chaos of his life and his already high stress levels, he did not want to risk being shot at, thank you very much._

 _Danny gently landed, boots barely making a sound, as the ice gained his light weight. While he was sure it would hold him, just in case, he crouched down, and after shifting the bag, pressed his free hand on the ice. His eyes glowed blue, and there was a woosh of cold air that rose up and unsettled the sparing trees around him._

 _He got up and pressed his foot down, moving his foot side to side. Danny stepped his foot once or twice, and when he was done, he smiled in satisfaction, giving the ice a little nod. After doing his tests, he floated over to the edge of the lake, made himself an ice bench. He settled himself and his bag down with a plop, transforming back into Fenton._

 _From here, covered from head to toe with thick winter clothes, Danny opened the bag, revealing a pair of figure skates._

 _It started out as a way to practice his new ice powers. Some nights, he'd go out, freeze the lake a bit, and try to make some snowmen or something. It wasn't too big of a deal, and while using his ice powers wasn't as practical on non-moving objects, as other ghosts, the powers were new enough that anything was helpful._

 _Although, if Danny were to ever come clean and tell his friends, he will remember never to mention the number of squirrels he pissed off while looking for target practice, or so help him, Sam would fully kill him right then and there._

 _The reason he started skating was a bit embarrassing. One night he freezed the lake and started sliding around like a clumsy baby penguin. Fenton stubbornness kicked in, and he wouldn't leave the lake until he could slide around on the ice without slipping. He got the brilliant idea to put skates on the bottom of his boots._

 _It worked out well for about three seconds before he fell flat on his face._

 _Normal people would have given up there. However, a combination of dread of coming home and the before mentioned Fenton genes had him huffing, getting back up again, and trying to skate once more. When he got back home, the first thing he did was look up how to make actual skates and, of course, how not to flat out on his face._

 _He eventually bought a pair of skates when he figured out putting blades on the bottom of his boots was not very effective._

 _Danny didn't exactly know what it was supposed to be to him. He never saw himself as a skater. Even if the thought did ever cross his mind, he would have shoved it down, tear it up, and make sure it never did again, in fear of Dash finding out and bashing him in the face._

 _Good thing Danny stopped caring what Dash thought a long time ago._

 _If Tucker and Sam ever found out what he did some nights, he'd never hear the end of it. They wouldn't get it, not exactly, and while they wouldn't make fun of him (for long), he knew they wouldn't see this like he did._

 _It was like flying, except a bit more accessible. Whenever he moved on the ice, the wind flowing, body bending, and twisting, he couldn't help but feel like he was in a whole other world._

 _Danny finished tying up his skates. Carefully, he made his way towards the ice, smile wide on his face, as he started the now familiar motion of skating. He started slow, making sure he knew the motions. The wind picked up, as he went along, as he sashayed back and forth, marking his trail with the cut of his blades._

 _As time went on, he went faster, nothing too much, but he felt the air pick up around him, the cold holding him like a hug, and he closed his eyes so he could just feel the world turn into nothing but wind, ice, and freedom._

 _Hours later, Danny sat on the little ice bench once more. He was exhausted, face flushed pink, breath short, and sore from head to toe. He should have stayed home, slept, get some homework done._

 _Yet, as he stayed at the frozen lake and put away his skates, Danny couldn't help but feel the happiest he'd been in a long time._

OoOoOoOoO

There may be a big difference between Cores and their cores, but considering their passion, not only with ice, but with the usual hope they had to continue on beyond what should be possible, Astral appreciated them nonetheless.

Ice was a staple of the multiverse. It wasn't going away.

So why not just sit back, watch the show, and enjoy the winter wonderlands?

* * *

AN: (Laziness strikes again. Word count about 3500 words). Thanks for reading! Tell me what you liked! Tell me what you disliked! Don't really have much to say, so...yeah.

See ya next time!

~LunagaleMaster


	3. Day 3: Fangs

AN: It is time...for Clockwork POV and Astral being a little shit.

May the Ancients have mercy on them both.

Timeline/Location: Non-specific timeline, Clockwork's Tower

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. All rights go to Nickelodeon. Please support the official release.

* * *

 _Day Three: Fangs_

"Clockwork, you need to look more intimidating."

…So, Astral was visiting again.

The Master of Time, currently in his older form, turned his head slowly to towards the small deity. Astral was inspecting Clockwork's cape, not touching him, but his eyes trailed up and down Clockwork's body. His eyes couldn't have actually caught any small details, considering how little time he spent on one area. However, he had a feeling Astral knew his attire so well at this point, that he was just putting on a show.

As per usual.

Clockwork shook his head, amused, "Intimidating?"

"Yeah," Astral replied, finally disregarding the no touching rule and picking up his cape between his fingers. He narrowed his eyes at it, "Intimidating. You're supposed to be this super powerful master of time, and you look…friendly."

"You say as if this is a bad thing." Clockwork switched to his child form. He smirked when Astral lost his balance. "You know, this is why you don't touch other people without permission."

Astral huffed at the retreated cape. "Excuse me for being helpful and trying to give your advice."

"Astral, you constantly wear an oversized sweatshirt and your hair looks like it's constantly in a bedhead. If you want to give me advice on intimidating clothes, I suggest you start looking less like a college student after three midterms."

"Hey, firstly, some college students are scary after midterms. Sleep deprivation is one of the multiverse's worst evils, let me tell ya, secondly," Astral said, as he moved to float in front of him, "Just because I won't take the advice, doesn't mean you can't be intimidating."

"What's your reasoning behind this makeover?"

"Well, duh, if you're going to be the Master of Time, you've got to have some sort of scary presence. You're not exactly scary with your chubby baby cheeks."

"I have a scar."

"It looks like facepaint, and it doesn't even go _through_ your eye. "

He switched to his adult form.

Astral arched an eyebrow, lips quirking into a smirk. "And now you look like someone's dad with a pendulum instead of a stomach."

"Do you enjoy insulting my looks?"

"I enjoy getting you to listen to me."

Clockwork let out a long suffering sigh, and he closed he eyes when Astral let out a low sneaker in response. "Oh pray, do tell," He said, finally giving in to his fate, "How would you make more intimidating."

"Fangs," Astral replied immediately.

Clockwork paused, took a moment, then looked Astral straight in the eyes. "Fangs," He repeated, not even bothering to hide his tiredness.

"Yep! Giant spine inducing fangs like these!"

As Astral transformed his teeth into fangs entirely too big for his mouth, he just shook his head and laughed…and laughed…and laughed lowly under his breath.

"Clockwork? Come on! Clocky-man, Timmy Time Master! Will you stop laughing? Hey! Don't turn your back to me!" He started poking at Clockwork's head. "We were having a serious discussion on your lack of intimidation skills!"

The Time Master allowed his chuckles to grow louder before his voice turned icey, "I can intimidate quite well if I want to. Would you like to understand?"

Astral stopped poking him. Amusement bubbled up in his chest, as the silence stretched on. Then finally, he felt the small master hover away, and he heard him whisper under his breath, "Well shit, you don't need me after all." There was another pause. "…Teach me your ways."

"It comes with working with the Observants," Clockwork replied dryly.

"That makes way too much sense…so, no on the whole fangs thing?"

Clockwork had no guilt when he smacked Astral with his staff nor at the resulting cry of pain.

* * *

AN: (Word Count was a little under 650 words). Thanks for reading! Tell me what you liked. Tell me what you disliked. Tell me what you think I can improve upon. Clockwork and Astral banter will be a running theme, so get ready to see my two masters banter. A lot. And argue.

Just expect a lot of interactions that involve Astral being a little shit, sometimes yelling, a bit of betrayal, and just an unquantifiable amount of years of their friendship and drama wrapped up into little moments in time.

Also warning you guys now, the next prompt is gonna be angsty. As in, someone's gonna die and we're dealing with the emotional aftermath type of angsty.

On that note, hope you guys had a nice time, and I'll see you next time!

~LunagaleMaster


	4. Day 4: Alterations

AN: I'm late! Yay! What else is new? I will be late for this entire month probably. (Le sigh).

Whatever. Enjoy my dudes!

Timeline: Not too distant time after this Danny became the Master of Space. Has not chosen the name Astral yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. All rights go to Nickelodeon. Please support the official release.

* * *

 _Day 4: Alteration_

"Why can't you change things for the better?"

Clockwork eyed the new Master of Space. The little master was watching the screens intensely, frown deeply entrenched on his youthful face.

Danny was getting better at controlling his physical form, though Clockwork had to admit it was a long process. He was sitting cross legged, midair, elbows resting on his kneecaps. Looking at his front, he'd almost look perfectly normal. Black untidy hair, an overly long blue sweatshirt that went over his hands, and oversized jeans practically eclipsing his feet. His face was a bit pale, almost pure white with almost the slightest shade of coloring.

But if he looked at Danny's pupiless eyes, one green, the other blue, he couldn't help but see the issue. Nor could he miss the little master's back, the stars trailed up and down his skin, creating an infinite void of space.

Clockwork pretended not to notice.

He also didn't want to notice Danny's question, but since he turned to Clockwork expectantly, the time master had a feeling he didn't have much choice.

Inwardly bracing himself, he sighed softly, "Some things you can't make better."

"Bullshit," Danny hissed, "You have the power. I've seen it. Why aren't you using it?"

Clockwork arched an eyebrow. "Why aren't you?" He replied easily.

"Because you told me not to." There was a definite pout in both his voice and expression. "Because timelines are your job."

"And don't you think I know what's best?"

There was a long pause. Every second Danny didn't answer made Clockwork's stomach sink further and further. After a moment, Danny managed to finally find his answer, voice soft, but the sound harsh against Clockwork's ears, "…I just…I just don't know anymore."

His lazy position turned almost sharp, as he looked at the Time Master accusingly. "You say you know best, but at the same time, you never do anything to make things better for anyone."

Clockwork narrowed his eyes, and he didn't stop the sharp tone in his words, as he said lowly, "Child, you don't know-"

"And I'm not a child!" He hissed.

"In my perspective, you are. You are playing with matters that you don't understand-"

"Oh?" He said with a hard roll of his eyes. "And you do?"

"Better than you. I have more experience. Can't there be some trust between us?"

He was quiet for a moment. He was thinking again, and thinking about these matter too deeply would only lead to trouble. After all, there was a reason why Clockwork did his job and nothing more, and thinking about his position in the multiverse made things much more difficult to deal with. It had gotten better recently with the addition of Danny and the loss of the Observants, sure, but overall?

Clockwork never thought what his position meant in the long run. It would just be a distraction.

"…I trust you," Danny finally said, snapping Clockwork back to the moment, "But, I still think…I think…" He looked up at the time mirrors. Despite his lack of pupils, the pain in his eyes were palpable. Danny moved his hands from his knees, his arms coming to wrap around his chest. He bit his lip and after a moment of just staring at the screen, whispered softly, voice trembling in the effort to push out the no doubt balled up emotions,"I…I think we at least have the power to make their lives….better? You know? We have all this power, and we can see so much, but all we do is look and watch. Don't you think we could do so much…more?"

His eyes trailed back to Clockwork. There were tears starting to well up in the corner of his eyes, and his skin was starting to crack, revealing the starscape underneath the facade of normality.

Clockwork frowned, a mix of empathetic sadness and pity building up in his throat.

He sighed to relieve the growing tension in his body. "Sometimes more, leads to something worse in the end. The more I act and the more you act, the less the timeline knows what to do. In the end, what we try to do to help could lead to even worse consequences." He eyed Danny sternly. "I like seeing suffering as much as you do, please, do not imply otherwise, I find it rather insulting," he tried to sound amused, but even he could hear the sharpness leaking into his voice. He looked away and finished softly, "I simply want the best ending for everyone, even if it means some may not have good endings as a result.

"Do you understand?"

It took a moment, but Danny nodded, even if it was rather reluctant.

Clockwork hoped this would be the end to this dilemma, but seeing how Danny was considering the screens, he rather doubted it.

* * *

Word Count: 857 words (not including intro or outro)

AN: Look guys, I wasn't lazy this time with the word count. Lol. Anyway, thanks for reading! Critques are loved! Tell me what you disliked. Tell me what you liked. Blah blah blah. You know the deal.

Also? Moment in Time/Clocks? Angst. Major angst. As in, I'm putting a warning now type angst and then again before the prompt. **Day 5's prompt will have in detail descriptions of a character's death and the emotional consequences because of it. Gore warning. Death by fire.**

I wanted to put that here now, just in case, and so you know to skip (or stay tuned).

Anyway, thanks for reading guys! See you next time!

~LunagaleMaster


	5. Day 5: Moment in Time

AN: Hey, look, this is back! Idk if anyone is reading this, but hey, it's here. Have fun with this... as much fun as you can have with angst.

Trigger Warnings: Trigger Warnings: Death, main character death, melting, general ectoshit (seriously I'm putting two of these for a reason)

Hope you enjoy, my dudes!

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. All rights go to Nickelodeon Studios. Please support the official release.

* * *

 _Day 5: Moment in Time_

It was so quick.

Play by play, Tucker could remember that day like it was one of those stupid flip books he made in elementary school. Waking up. School. Laughing about some stupid thing (he doesn't remember what exactly, but he remembers Sam glaring at the both of them). Danny's ghost sense going off….

Then the school exploded.

From there the world was as coherent as a shaky camera in one of those action movies. Danny protected them with a barrier. Sam got out her hidden weapon. Tucker? Well, Tucker did his best and looked to get everyone he could out. He wasn't much of a fighter, at least, not in a typical sense. He was more of a strategist than anything.

Tucker wondered if things would have turned out differently if he stayed behind. Somehow he doubted it, but he couldn't help but think-

It was chaos. The three acted on instinct. Danny transformed and swept to find the ghost who did it, Sam ran down the hallway, and Tucker kept his eyes out for the other kids. There was shouting, people running around, screaming. Despite the fact ghost attacks were ten times more common than fire drills, people panicked every single damn time. It made it difficult to navigate. Teenagers screaming and running and trying to keep away from the fire and smoke. Bits of the ceiling falling on their heads, and students shielded their heads with their backpacks. Teachers tried to keep calm and lead everyone out, but it wasn't even a few minutes into the chaos before they were simply dragging as many kids as they could before booking it out of their for their lives.

Tucker didn't know what much else had happened. Smoke clouded his memories, and whenever he tried to dredge up specifcs, all he could remember was screams ringing in his ears, fear pounding in his heart, and the distinct feeling of irritation towards the chaos around him.

What he did remember clearly was the pseudo aftermath.

A ghost he'd never seen before.

Sam shooting at the strays around them.

Danny fighting with all his might.

And then a spear of fire going straight through his friend's chest, as the crowd around him gasped as one.

He didn't know who screamed first. It may have been him, Sam, the crowd. Paulina could have as well, but at the moment, he didn't really give a fuck about what she thought. Everything went in slow motion as the weapon went through his chest. He froze midair, and Tucker if he could would have done anything to see his face. Or maybe it was a blessing in disguise. He didn't know.

All he saw was the flaming spear rip up his best friend's back and it teared his jumpsuit piece by piece until it reached the tender flesh from underneath. Danny floated downward, struggling to keep up, as the stupid ghost smirked dangerously at his opponent, sharp teeth and a wicked smile, as his eyes flashed gleefully at the mess he made of Phantom.

The fire continued to tear at Danny's skin, and try as he might, there was nothing he could do to phase, bend, or twist his form around the hooked in weapon. He just pulled and pulled as the ghost reeled him in like a fish and even as he saw Sam or someone blast at the giant beast of a ghost, the shots reflected off its skin like it was nothing and all Tucker could hear was its deep laughter ringing mockingly in his ears.

Danny got the laughed in, even if it cost him.

Danny got to scream too.

What was going in his head, Tucker didn't know. Probably something stupid sense of righteousness to protect everyone like it was his last breath. He….he didn't think he would live, Tucker had to think, because if he did, he would have used a lot less energy.

The wail broke out and rippled through the air. It broke the school, the buildings around it, and whatever was remaining of the street beyond. The ghost was gone, at least, they couldn't find what was left of it or its spear.

Tucker couldn't give two shits about the ghost because he was running to catch his friend, as he saw him plummet to the ground like a burning comet.

A loud crash. More gasps from the crowd. Sam ran right beside him, and Tucker can't remember if it was her or him shouting Danny's name. The world blurred until it was only the three of them, Tucker and Sam practically hurling themselves onto the cracked asphalt to pull Danny out of the rubble.

At least try to. As the two stumbled over large the chunks of cement blocking their way, Tucker felt his stomach drop with every passing second he stared helplessly at his best friend, the image burned in his mind forever.

Burned, emblazoned, seared, funny how these words created definites, yet real fire destroyed everything it touched.

Danny was on the ground, gasping, body spasming inward on itself. He looked to be trying to hold himself together, hand pressing into his chest to stop the growing puddle of ectoplasm that kept flowing terrifyingly out him. However, even as he tried to stop the flow, there seemed to be nothing he could do. It was then Tucker realized that there was a loud hissing noise erupting from Danny. He thought it was just the sounds of pipelines bursting from the battle, but no.

Not when he could see the screaming steam bursting from the middle of his chest. The fire spear was long gone and the heat seemed to already be dying away. Yet, the heat from the wound tore straight into Danny...right through his ice core.

Danny once tried describing what seeing Dani melt had been like. Face scrunched up and face ashen, he explained in a quiet voice, not quite looking at them, '...you know how after you get caught in a storm? ...It looked kind of like that, expect with a lot less water and just...her….it looked like puddles of paint until it hit the floor. And then you realize, that's her. That isn't water, goop, or anything, that's a person , and the first urge you get is to try to stick her back together.

'And the worst part? You can't. She has to do it herself, and all I could do was just...watch and believe she's strong enough to keep it all together long enough to get someone who could do something.'

Watching Danny melt was everything and more than what he described. Because while they all knew at the end of the day Dani was safe and exploring the world somewhere, the same couldn't be said of his best friend.

While Sam was calling out to the crowd, she missed how Danny's grip left her. The way his hand melted away, falling to the ground into the growing pool of ectoplasm. His skin bubbled in a swirling heated mass of color and decay that smelled of burning flesh and something spicy.

Danny tried to smile back at Tucker. His lips quirked for a second, but even he wasn't strong enough to keep up the act. He didn't, couldn't scream, his mouth went agape, as steam erupted from his mouth. His hair fell against in a single mass before molding into his face. Eyes wide and staring vacantly into the distance, his hair melted against the electric green, creating even more sparks and pooling down, down, down…

Black melted into white, while bright green tore through his skin. Tucker couldn't tell where his legs began, where his hands were, or even where his torso was anymore. Everything became a mesh of ectoplasm and burning, heated flesh.

By the time Sam looked back, Tucker couldn't hold Danny's hand anymore. There was nothing to hold, nothing left except a steaming pile of ectoplasm and the ectoplasm covered blisters on Tucker's skin.

OoOoOoOoOoO

"Were you two close in this universe?" Astral asked quietly, as the Core's death fade away from the time mirrors. He turned to Clockwork, watching him carefully. He seemed too preoccupied to look back.

Clockwork gripped his staff tighter. "Yes," he whispered just as quietly. He sounded pained, "Not as close as some, but… yes, close." He paused for a moment, staring at the time mirrors with narrowed eyes. Astral shifted in the air awkwardly, eyeing windows before looking back. He didn't particularly know what to do exactly or how to comfort him, but he'd let Clockwork have his moment to grief.

"Thank you, for being here," Clockwork finally said. He let out a long sigh and turned to Astral, "I know you don't have a particular fondness for the Cores, but-"

Astral waved him off. "Don't worry about it. This isn't about him. It's about you."

"Yes, but the universal energy," Clockwork insisted.

"It all can be regulated in universe. It'll be a little bit of a headache, not gonna lie." Actually a big one, which throbbed painfully through his entire body, not to mention the huge inward pain after the Core's sudden death. Not that he was going to tell Clockwork any of this. He smirked at the Time Master. "But I'll make do."

"...So will you stay for a bit?"

Astral shrugged. He shifted around to lay on his back in the air, legs crossed and hands behind his head. "As long as it doesn't matter to the timeline, I think I can pencil you in for a little while."

Clockwork closed his eyes tightly, gripping his staff with even more force. For some reason that little remark affected him more than it really should have. Before Astral could ask, however, his lips curled into a smile, and he said with a huge sound of relief, "Thank you, my friend."

Astral squirmed and looked away awkwardly. "Hey, no prob, Timmy Time Lord," he said quickly, "It'd be kind of an asshole to leave you with just the one eyed floating blobs for company after all this, especially after a death like _that_. Well, even more of an asshole than usual," he conceded with a mutter.

Clockwork's laugh wasn't booming or even that happy. It was soft, amused, something he'd hear every time Astral did something particularly quirky or Clockwork found endearing. It was… normal, or as normal as their dynamic got.

So, despite the circumstances, Astral counted that as a win.

He just hoped the headache would go away sometime soon.

* * *

Word Count: 1,808 words (not including intro, outro, or title)

AN: Thanks for reading! Tell me what you liked! Tell me what you disliked! Tell me something weird if you want!

The prompt in this one is a two/three parter btw. The next part will be continues on Angst: Day 19

See you next time!

~LunagaleMaster

Preview! _Day 6 (Human): Danny couldn't remember the last time he felt truly human. He didn't know if that was a bad thing anymore_


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